F &Jetsam P EOP L E | SAF E T Y | ENVI RONMENT | VH F lotsam PEOPLE BY ALEX MATTHEWS
of Quebec and Labrador due to injury. Hay- ley Shephard’s plan to complete the first solo circumnavigation of the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia was scuttled by logistics and weather. And Marcus Demuth and Biff Wruszek’s attempted circumnavigation of Isla Grande Tierra del Fuego—South America ‘s largest island—was abandoned due to relent- less winds and the extreme remoteness of the region. Tese days it seems as if a greater num- ber of sea kayak expeditions are falling short of their goals. Are more expeditions being left unfinished
or is this a false impression? I believe that it’s a bit of both. Te art of sea kayak expeditioning has truly
come of age. Tere was a time when paddling around Vancouver Island would garner some celebrity status. To get noticed these days, a pad- dler must complete the 1,000 kilometre journey
16 ADVENTURE KAYAK | SUMMER/FALL 2010
Unfinished Business M
WHY MORE SEA KAYAK EXPEDITIONS ARE DOOMED TO FAIL
athieu Jean had to abandon his solo at- tempt to circumnavigate the provinces
in under 18 days, as Sean Morley did in ‘08. Or attempt a truly unquestionably epic adventure. Te bar has been raised incredibly high. A recent stunning success is Freya Hoff-
meister’s solo circumnavigation of Australia. Te scope and difficulty of these expeditions is now at a level where a certain percentage of failure is inevitable. A sombre example is An- drew McCauley’s fatal solo attempt to cross the Tasman Sea—1,600 kilometres from Tas- mania to the South Island of New Zealand. As awareness of successfully completed epic
expeditions grows, the average sea kayaker may begin to believe that these sorts of challenges are, well, if not easily won, then certainly not too difficult. While the examples given above (whether successful or not) reference experi- enced paddlers with established credentials, I can think of others who seemed woefully unprepared for the missions undertaken. As reading about expedition kayakers who rou- tinely paddle into 30-knot winds to complete
successive 40-nautical-mile days becomes the norm, maybe we can be forgiven for thinking, “Hey, I could do that!” When the truth for most of us is: No you couldn’t! Tere is also no doubt that social media has
changed our perceptions. It is now far easier to publicize an expedition. Dedicated expedition websites abound and there are no restrictions constraining who can broadcast their upcom- ing plans—no matter how lofty or ill pre- pared. Because of Twitter, blogs and Facebook we know far more about proposed journeys before they even begin. Before the Internet, we heard mostly about expeditions that were suc- cessful, and seldom about those that weren’t. Ultimately, greater challenges come with
higher possibilities of failure and so we should expect more failed attempts. I greatly respect the motivation (even as I often fail to understand it) of those who embark on these incredible kayak journeys. And I wish them Godspeed, and above all, a safe return—goal completed or not.
NEWS FROM THE PADDLING WORLD “Look everyone, it’s Haley. Think she’ll
make it around the island?” PHOTO: BETH-ANNE MASSELINK
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